Image forming apparatus having multiple medium paths to a fixing unit

Abstract

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit configured to form an image on a first medium at an image forming position, a fixing unit configured to fix the image formed on the first medium by heating the first medium at a first temperature, a conveying unit configured to convey the first medium to the fixing unit through a first path extending from the image forming position to the fixing unit and convey a second medium to the fixing unit through a second path that merges with the first path at a position between the image forming position and the fixing unit, and a control unit configured to control the fixing unit to be a second temperature that is higher than the first temperature, when the control unit determines that the conveying unit is conveying the second medium to the fixing unit through the second path.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An image forming apparatus, comprising:
 a medium holder configured to store a first medium; 
 an image forming unit configured to form an image on the first medium at an image forming position; 
 a fixing unit configured to fix the image formed on the first medium by heating the first medium at a first temperature; 
 a conveying unit configured to convey the first medium to the fixing unit through a first path extending from the medium holder to the fixing unit through the image forming position and convey a second medium to the fixing unit through a second path that branches off from the first path at a position between the medium holder and the image forming unit and merges with the first path at a position between the image forming position and the fixing unit; and 
 a control unit configured to control the fixing unit to be at a second temperature that is higher than the first temperature, when the control unit determines that the conveying unit is conveying the second medium to the fixing unit through the second path. 
 
     
     
       2. The image forming apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the control unit is further configured to control the conveying unit to stop conveying the first medium through the image forming position when the control unit determines that the conveying unit is conveying the second medium to the fixing unit through the second path. 
     
     
       3. The image forming apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein the control unit is further configured to control the image forming unit to stop forming the image on the first medium when the control unit determines that the conveying unit is conveying the second medium to the fixing unit through the second path. 
     
     
       4. The image forming apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a first medium holder; 
 a second medium holder; and 
 a guiding unit configured to guide a medium conveyed from the fixing unit to the first medium holder and the second medium holder, wherein 
 the conveying unit is further configured to convey the first medium and the second medium to the guiding unit, and 
 the control unit is further configured to control the guiding unit to guide the first medium to the first medium holder and the second medium to the second medium holder. 
 
     
     
       5. The image forming apparatus according to  claim 4 , further comprising:
 a third medium holder that is connected to the second path and on which the second medium is placed, 
 wherein the conveying unit is further configured to convey the second medium on the third medium holder to the fixing unit through the second path. 
 
     
     
       6. The image forming apparatus according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the second path is shorter than the first path. 
 
     
     
       7. The image forming apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the conveying unit is further configured to convey a medium from the fixing unit to the image forming position and to the second path. 
     
     
       8. The image forming apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the second temperature is a temperature at which a decolorizable recording material is decolorized. 
     
     
       9. A method for operating an image forming apparatus comprising:
 a medium holder configured to store a first medium; 
 an image forming unit configured to form an image on the first medium at an image forming position; 
 a fixing unit configured to fix the image on the first medium by heating the first medium at a first temperature; and 
 a conveying unit configured to convey the first medium to the fixing unit through a first path extending from the medium holder to the fixing unit through the image forming position and convey a second medium to the fixing unit through a second path that branches off from the first path at a position between the medium holder and the image forming unit and merges with the first path at a position between the image forming position and the fixing unit, 
 the method comprising: 
 determining whether or not the conveying unit is conveying the second medium to the fixing unit through the second path; and 
 controlling the fixing unit to be at a second temperature that is higher than the first temperature, when the conveying unit is determined to be conveying the second medium to the fixing unit through the second path. 
 
     
     
       10. The method according to  claim 9 , further comprising:
 controlling the conveying unit to stop conveying the first medium through the image forming position, when the conveying unit is determined to be conveying the second medium to the fixing unit through the second path. 
 
     
     
       11. The method according to  claim 9 , further comprising:
 controlling the image forming unit to stop forming the image onto the first medium, when the conveying unit is determined to be conveying the second medium to the fixing unit through the second path. 
 
     
     
       12. The method according to  claim 9 , wherein the image forming apparatus further comprising:
 a first medium holder; 
 a second medium holder; and 
 a guiding unit configured to guide a medium conveyed from the fixing unit to the first medium holder and the second medium holder, the method further comprising: 
 controlling the conveying unit to convey the medium from the fixing unit to the guiding unit; and 
 controlling the guiding unit to guide the first medium to the first medium holder and the second medium to the second medium holder. 
 
     
     
       13. The method according to  claim 9 , wherein
 the second path is shorter than the first path. 
 
     
     
       14. The method according to  claim 9 , wherein the second temperature is a temperature at which a decolorizable recording material is decolorized. 
     
     
       15. An image forming apparatus, comprising:
 an image forming unit configured to form an image on a first medium at an image forming position; 
 a fixing unit configured to fix the image formed on the first medium by heating the first medium at a first temperature; 
 a first medium holder; 
 a second medium holder; 
 a guiding unit configured to guide a medium from the fixing unit to the first medium holder and the second medium holder; and 
 a conveying unit configured to convey the first medium to the fixing unit through a first path extending from the image forming position to the fixing unit, convey a second medium to the fixing unit through a second path that merges with the first path at a position between the image forming position and the fixing unit, and convey the first medium and the second medium to the guiding unit; 
 a control unit configured to control the fixing unit to be a at second temperature that is higher than the first temperature, when the control unit determines that the conveying unit is conveying the second medium to the fixing unit through the second path, and control the guiding unit to guide the first medium to the first medium holder and the second medium to the second medium holder. 
 
     
     
       16. The image forming apparatus according to  claim 15 , further comprising:
 a third medium holder that is connected to the second path and on which the second medium is placed, 
 wherein the conveying unit is further configured to convey the second medium on the third medium holder to the fixing unit through the second path.